Welcome to another exciting installment of Spacemon, the tale of a Pokemon TRPG campaign! This is a spinoff of the sci-fi space epic played using the Pokemon Tabletop United (PTU) system, this time GMed by yours truly. You can get caught up on the entire Spacemon saga here!
The UAS Maverick’s crew assembled in the cockpit as the ship dropped out of warp space at the coordinates in Sector 17 they had recovered from the facility on Insipia. Looking out the front viewport, the only thing of note that Gaster could see was a small space station in orbit around what appeared to be an uninhabited desert planet.
“That must be what we’re looking for,” Cyrus said to his crew. “What’s our play?”
“We could hail them, I suppose,” Ace suggested.
“That’s not a bad plan, actually,” Gaster said. “I’ve got an idea, so follow my lead.”
Cyrus nodded. “Alright, go for it. Anya, open a channel.”
As soon as the station answered the hail, Gaster called out, trying to sound as desperate as possible, “ Hello?! Is anyone there?!”
“This is private station,” a gruff, heavily Romanov accented voice responded as a bearded man appeared on the viewscreen. He had the look of a merc about him. “You are trespassing.”
“Look, I get it,” Gaster continued pleadingly. “This is a private facility. You don’t want outsiders here. Trust me, I get it, but we’ve been stranded for like a week now. We’re nearly out of fuel and we’re running low on supplies. Please, could you just let us dock and take some fuel, maybe a bit of food. We can pay you; we have money. We just … We’re gonna die if you don’t help us out! We haven’t seen anyone for ages!”
“One moment,” the Romanov man on the other end of the call replied. He soon disappeared off-screen to talk to somebody. A few moments later, he returned. “Here are docking instructions, but you are not authorized to leave hangar.”
“That’s fair,” Gaster told him.
“Please, be quick,” the man said before terminating the call.
As soon as the feed cut out, Anya looked at Gaster with a shocked expression on her face. “I can’t believe that worked.”
Gaster leaned back in his seat and said, “I’ve had some practice being desperate.”
“We should still be careful just in case they try to blow the ship up or something,” Cyrus said. “And eject our fuel so we don’t raise any suspicions.”
Running on fumes after most of its fuel had been jettisoned into space, the Maverick flew into the hangar it had been directed to land in and came to a stop next to a slightly larger freighter. Taraka looked around at his crewmates, wondering if any of them had a suggestion for the next step in this barely cobbled together plan.
“Well, we’re here,” the monk said. “What next?”
“Keep playing the part, I suppose,” Cyrus answered, glancing over at Gaster, who nodded back. “The four of us,” the captain continued, motioning at Ace, Gaster, Taraka, and himself, “will head outside and speak with our gracious hosts while Sikari sneaks off and scopes the place out.”
Sikari smirked. “I can do that,” she said before cloaking. “Shall we?”
Taraka nodded. “Let’s go.” The monk followed the others to the cargo ramp and off the ship with the invisible Sikari surely slinking along behind.
As they stepped out into the hangar, Taraka took a quick glance around at their surroundings. The hangar itself was rather small, with just enough room to accommodate two frigate sized ships. One man with a rifle stood waiting for them near their ship, while a second that Taraka recognized as the man they had spoken with on the comms stood just outside the hangar control room, speaking with the two men guarding the bulkhead doors leading out to the rest of the station. Taraka also noted two more armed men patrolling the catwalks above.
“Hello,” Cyrus said as he led the crew over to the man there to greet them. “Thanks for the help. You’re a real lifesaver.”
“Let’s just get your ship fueled up so you can leave,” the man replied, sounding a bit annoyed. Much like the last guy they spoke with, he had a Romanov accent, but his wasn’t as thick. Turning to a pair of engineers standing nearby, he waved them over, then pointed at the Maverick. “Fuel it up,” he instructed. “Quickly.”
“So what is this place anyway?” Ace casually asked as the engineers got to work fueling up the ship.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” the guard who greeted them responded, adjusting his grip on his rifle.
“Oh,” Gaster said, intentionally leaving an awkward pause afterwards. “So …” he finally said after a moment. “Do we discuss payment with you or … do we have to speak with your superior?”
“You can discuss that with me,” the guy said somewhat shiftily. Clearly this was an off the books arrangement.
As Cyrus and Gaster began discussing the financial details with the guard, Taraka wandered off to get a better look around. Approaching the other ship in the hangar, the monk noted that it was a Romanov make civilian freighter. He figured it must have been what brought supplies to the station.
Suddenly, as Taraka continued wandering, Sikari’s voice sounded on the comms. “Well this place definitely seems shady,” she reported. “Lot’s of security, definitely mercs, probably the same ones from Insipia if I were to guess.”
Hearing this information, Taraka made his way back to the others to see what they thought. Gaster was speaking to the guard when he returned, making small talk. “So you heard about the attacks on the Yong family recently?” the former smuggler asked as Taraka approached.
It was a bold move to bring that up, but if it tipped the guard off, he didn’t let it on. “How could I not?” he asked Gaster. “It’s been all over the news.”
“Kind of a shame,” Gaster continued. “Glad that Boris guy made it out alright.”
“Oh, looks like I found the main security control room,” Sikari sounded on the comms again, sounding amused. “I can mess with their defenses from here if you’d like.”
“Do it,” Cyrus responded.
“Do what?” the guard asked.
“Just telling our pilot to get the ship ready to leave,” the captain lied, tapping his commlink.
“Right, good,” the man said. “Looks like your ship is all fueled up, so get out of here,” he told the crew.
“What if we said no?” Gaster asked wryly. “Just speculation.”
The guard’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Sorry pal,” Gaster said, grabbing one of his Pokeballs. “We’re taking over this station.” With that, he sent out his Tyranitar.
As the guard stumbled back in surprise, Cyrus drew his pistol, then opened fire on him. The captain landed a couple grazing hits on the guard before he managed to dive into cover. The other guards soon scrambled into action, so Cyrus sent out his Donphan, then took cover himself. Taraka quickly followed suit, sending out his Togekiss, while Ace released and brandished his Aegislash.
Unslinging the tesla coil rifle Gaster had loaned him and lining up a shot, Taraka opened fire on the first guard as he peaked out from cover to send out an Unfezant. He landed a glancing blow, but the guard managed to duck back into safety.
“Sirius, drive him out with Fairy Wind!” Taraka then commanded his Togekiss. The Jubilee Pokemon flew in to attack, but the guard managed to roll out of the way and scramble away.
“I’ll take care of this!” Ace called out as he charged after the guard, Aegislash raised to strike.
As things began to kick off, the two men guarding the doors each sent out a Pokemon, a Primeape on the left and a Scizor on the right. Meanwhile, one of the men on the catwalks tossed a Pokeball down to release an Ariados.
“Yarostny, move in and use Substitute!” the Primeape’s trainer barked out, commanding his Pokemon forward.
As the Pig Monkey Pokemon set up its defense, the Scizor’s trainer commanded his Pokemon as well. “Nozhnitzy, charge and use Focus Energy!” he ordered, pointing at Gaster’s Tyranitar. The Pincer Pokemon flew in to engage Hrodulf, building up energy to attack.
The Ariados was the bigger threat, however. “Pauk, Night Shade!” its trainer called out from above. The Long Leg Pokemon unleashed a blast of energy at the Tyranitar, chewing right through his rocky, armored hide.
“Damn,” Gaster grunted in response. “Hrodulf, use Thrash!” The Tyranitar let out a fierce angry roar as he began to rampage. His powerful tail whipped around, landing a direct hit on the Ariados and smashing through the Primeape’s Substitute.
Hrodulf soon had a complete monopoly on most of the combatant’s attention, allowing Taraka a moment to shift his attention elsewhere. Ace still had the first guard occupied, but the man’s Unfezant was pursuing Sirius through the air, managing to land some attacks. Taraka quickly took aim at the Proud Pokemon and fired, shooting a jolt of electricity at it and driving it off.
Cyrus, meanwhile, opened fire on the man fighting Ace, landing a few shots. “Tusk, use Rollout!” the captain then ordered his Donphan. Curling into a wheel, Tusk rolled into combat, slamming into the guard and sending him staggering back.
Up above, the Unfezant flew in once more to attack Sirius, but the Togekiss managed to dodge this time. Taraka fired at the bird Pokemon once more, failing to land the shot, but driving it off again. “Sirius, take care of that Primeape with Air Slash!” he then called out.
With her pursuer thwarted again, Sirius flew over to Gaster’s Tyranitar to assist. The Togekiss sent a blast of air at the Primeape, narrowly missing, but forcing it to dodge instead of attack. This gave Gaster a window to move in to provide his Pokemon some healing. He was just in time too, as the Primeape’s trainer commanded back into the fray.
“Yarostny, Karate Chop!” the Romanov merc barked out. The Primeape charged in, landing a direct hit on Gaster’s Tyranitar.
The Scizor’s trainer then sent his Pokemon after Gaster himself. “Nozhnitzy, use Pursuit!” he ordered. Moving in close to strike, the Pincer Pokemon swiped at the former smuggler, landing a powerful hit.
Meanwhile, the Ariados’s trainer slid down a ladder from the catwalks and drew his pistol. “Pauk, Infestation!” he shouted as he fired off a few shots at the crew. The Ariados fired off its attack on the Tyranitar, but Ace then sent out his Simisear right on top of it.
“Scorch, Incinerate!” Ace called out. The Simisear breathed out a jet of flame that passed over the Ariados and the Primate, doing a serious number on the latter while bringing the former down entirely.
In return, Scorch was rewarded with a volley of rifle fire down from the guard that had remained on the catwalks. Meanwhile, the bearded, rifle-wielding guard by the doors opened fire on Gaster’s Tyranitar as the Armor Pokemon continued to rage about. Taraka himself managed to duck into cover as a volley of gunfire flew in his direction as well.
After taking a moment to put up a protective barrier, Taraka peered out from cover to see the captain’s Donphan roll over the first guard again. Cyrus then followed up with a few shots. “Pero, Air Slash!” the guard managed to call out to his Unfezant before Ace brought him down with his Aegislash. The Proud Pokemon fired off a blast of air at its trainer’s attackers, but all of them managed to dodge out of the way.
Ignoring the Unfezant, Taraka decided to keep the focus on the Primeape. “Sirius, use Air Slash!” the monk commanded. His Togekiss flew in to attack again, taking the injured Pig Monkey Pokemon down.
“Scorch, Fire Blast the Scizor!” Ace then commanded his Simisear. First taking in a breath of air, the Ember Pokemon spat out a five-pointed blast of flames that engulfed the Scizor as it attempted to attack Cyrus’s Donphan, and brought it down.
Gunfire still ripped through the air, though. Most of it was directed at Hrodulf, but Taraka’s barrier kept the Tyranitar protected. Clearly frustrated, the remaining guards that still had Pokemon opted to send theirs out. The one with the rifle near the doors sent out an Arbok, and the one up top threw down a Krookodile.
“Eyu, Sand Tomb!” the gunman on the catwalk barked down to his Krookodile. The Intimidation Pokemon flung a spinning vortex of sand at Hrodulf, but the raging Tyranitar shrugged it off and ignored his assailant, instead lashing out at the Unfezant still flying around and hitting it hard.
The Arbok’s trainer, meanwhile, went after the captain’s Donphan. “Kobra, Crunch!” he commanded. The poisonous snake slithered up to Tusk and sank its fangs in, leaving a nasty wound.
“Tusk, use Rollout!” Cyrus commanded as he opened fire on the Arbok. The captain’s Donphan then rolled over the Cobra Pokemon, causing it to hiss angrily. It lashed out at the Donphan again, delivering another bite before he could get away.
Seeing Hrodulf’s rage starting to subside, Taraka decided to run over to provide some healing. “Thanks!” Gaster called out.
“Of course,” Taraka nodded back at his crewmate. “Now, Sirius, use Dazzling Gleam on that Unfezant!” Heeding her trainer’s command, Sirius flew over to the Unfezant and blasted it with light, leaving it quite hurt. The Proud Pokemon attempted to fight back, but the Togekiss gracefully dodged out of the way.
“Scorch, Fling!” Ace then commanded his Simisear. Hefting up the iron ball his trainer had given him, the Ember Pokemon chucked it at the Arbok’s trainer, but the shot went wide and slammed into the wall behind him with a loud clang.
The other two at the door, meanwhile, were struggling with the alarm. “Activate the alarm!” one shouted.
“I’m trying!” the other shouted back. “It’s not working!”
Taraka was relieved that there would be no enemy backup coming. That must have been Sikari’s work.
The last guard on the ground and the Krookodile kept focusing on Hrodulf, meanwhile, but they couldn’t break through the Tyranitar’s tough armor.
“Hrodulf, use Chip Away!” Gaster responded. His Tyranitar let out a roar, then swiped at the Krookodile, landing a good hit.
Meanwhile, Ace moved to attack the Arbok with his Aegislash’s blade, but the snake wormed out of the way. Ace then quickly raised his shield as a hail of gunfire rained down from above upon him and his Simisear.
“Tusk, use Rollout!” Cyrus then commanded his Donphan. Rolling back over the Arbok, Tusk brought the Cobra Pokemon down while the captain took aim at the Unfezant still flying around, shooting it out of the air.
That was two more combatants down, but they weren’t out of the woods just yet. Moving back from the enemies, Gaster lined up his rifle and fired a few shots at the Krookodile, leaving it quite injured.
Keeping up the pressure, Taraka sent a pair of psionic flames flying out at the guard that had come down from the catwalks and the Krookodile, burning both. “Sirius, use Fairy Wind!” he then commanded his Togekiss to attack the Krookodile. The Togekiss flew over the Intimidation Pokemon, shooting a powerful burst of energy-infused air down at it and taking it out.
“Scorch, Fire Blast!” Ace then ordered his Simisear as he began to charge the rifleman in the back. Scorch shot out a fiery blast at the man ahead of his trainer, softening him up for the android. Ace soon closed in and struck with his Aegislash, cutting through his body armor.
The wounded merc leered angrily at Ace before retreating back to his two comrades at the door. “Turn on alarm!” he barked at them.
“It’s not working!” came the reply.
“Open door then!”
“That’s not working either!”
“Blyat!”
As they struggled with the doors, the other guard kept shooting at Hrodulf. “Use Payback!” Gaster commanded in response. His Tyranitar took a swing at the merc attacking him, but he ducked under his arm and dodged past … right into a volley of gunfire from Cyrus and Gaster.
“Tusk, use Rollout!” the captain commanded his Donphan as the merc dropped. Rolling up again, Tusk charged at the guards grouped at the door, sending them all diving.
“Scorch, Acrobatics!” Ace commanded his Simisear as the men scrambled to their feet. The Ember Pokemon jumped at the man with the rifle, knocking him against the wall. Taraka followed up with a shot from his new gun, dropping him.
The other two men opened fire on Tusk, but the remnants of Taraka’s barrier kept the Donphan standing. “Tusk, use Flail!” Cyrus commanded in response. The captain’s Donphan began to flail his tusks around, goring one of the men and taking him down.
Meanwhile, Ace struck the other with his Aegislash, landing a direct hit. “Scorch, Bite!” the android then ordered his Simisear. The Ember Pokemon sank his teeth in, but the guard managed to wriggle free, narrowly avoiding Ace’s follow-up strike. The merc fired off several shots at both of his assailants as he backed away, but he had nowhere to escape to. Cyrus’s Donphan charged into him, knocking him out cold.
“Got your back,” Cyrus nodded at Ace.
“Thanks, Captain,” Ace replied.
A hail of gunfire from above and a roar from Gaster’s Tyranitar served to remind that the battle wasn’t over yet. Cyrus, Gaster, and Taraka all aimed the guns at the last merc hiding up in the catwalks and opened fire, but it was hard to line up a good shot.
“Hrodulf, clear him out with Rock Slide!” Gaster commanded his Tyranitar. The Armor Pokemon let out another roar as he launched several large rocks up at the merc. A few pieces of the catwalks fell down to the floor, but the guard was left standing.
“Sirius, use Swift!” Taraka followed-up. The monk’s Togekiss flew up to the catwalk and made her attack as the merc fired off some more shots down on them. “Now, Dazzling Gleam!” he commanded as the guard shifted his aim to Sirius. With a blinding flash of light, Sirius finally brought the man down.
“We did it,” Ace said as he picked up his iron ball off the floor and handed it back to his Pokemon. “Now, who needs healing?” The android asked as he sent out his Gallade. “Blade’s got you.”
“Hrodulf does, if you don’t mind,” Gaster said, patting his Tyranitar’s leg.
“Of course not,” Ace said. “Blade, use Double Heal Pulse on Hrodulf and Scorch.” Building up healing energy in both hands, Ace’s Gallade channeled it into the Simisear and Tyranitar using the special technique his trainer had developed with him. “There. Much better.”
“Good,” Cyrus nodded. “Now, let’s get moving.”
The footfalls of the Maverick crew and their Pokemon echoed in the empty corridors as they navigated their way through the station, following the map Sikari had downloaded and transmitted to them. The information was all in Romanov so they only had their instincts to work off of. Ace felt the big room in the center was probably the most important so that was where they were headed.
Gaster kept a firm grip on his rifle as they moved down the main corridor of the station’s outer ring. Taking a right turn down another corridor, the crew moved into the station’s central structure. Following their route down several more corridors, they eventually reached a locked set of bulkhead doors.
“Hrodulf, smash the doors down!” Gaster called out. The former smuggler’s Tyranitar charged forward, his powerful feet thudding along with each step, and slammed his weight against the doors. With a loud, metallic scraping sound, the doors peeled apart, revealing a pair of surprised guards on the other side.
Moving to cover behind the bulkhead frame, Cyrus opened fire on the guard on the right, landing a few hits. Gaster and Taraka took aim and fired on him as well before Ace charged in to finish him off.
“Sirius, use Dazzling Gleam!”
“Scorch, Incinerate!”
In quick succession, Taraka’s Togekiss and Ace’s Simisear made their attacks on the other guard, dropping him just as quickly.
With the way clear, the crew moved through the smashed bulkhead doors into the corridor on the other side, which ran perpendicular to the one they came out of. There was also another set of doors directly opposite of where they entered. The commotion they had caused must have alerted some nearby guards because four more men came rushing out of the room, weapons drawn. Two of them took aim with their rifles while the other two ran forward and tossed out their Pokeballs, releasing an Altaria and an Infernape.
“Plamya, Mach Punch!” the Infernape’s trainer barked out. The Flame Pokemon moved at blistering speed, running up to Gaster’s Tyranitar and punching him. It was barely able to even dent Hrodulf’s armor however.
“Oblako, Dragon Dance!” the other trainer commanded his Altaria.
“Powering up won’t help!” Gaster shouted. “Hrodulf, charge in and Rock Slide!” Ignoring the Infernape, the Tyranitar charged into the Altaria, spraying it and the guard aiming his rifle standing behind it with rocks.
“Ack!” the man grunted as he stumbled back. Grabbing a Pokeball off his belt, the man sent out a Magmortar between himself and Hrodulf. The Blast Pokemon seemed a bit unnerved to emerge with an angry Tyranitar in its face, but it took up a combative stance all the same. “Pushka, Power-Up Punch!” its trainer ordered. The Magmortar closed in and punched Hrodulf, but barely left a scratch.
The fourth merc, meanwhile, sent out a Luxray. “Iskra, Charge!” he commanded as he fired on Hrodulf. The Luxray began to charge up electricity to attack, but Gaster lined up his rifle and fired, dropping the Gleam Eyes Pokemon with a pair of well-placed shots.
As Gaster took care of the Luxray, Cyrus and Taraka focused their fire on the Infernape, quickly whittling it down. “Sirius, use Air Slash!” Taraka then commanded his Togekiss. Letting loose a cutting burst of air at her target, the Jubilee Pokemon brought the Infernape down.
The remaining hostile Pokemon kept their focus on Gaster’s Tyranitar at the behest of their trainers, but neither the Altaria nor the Magmortar seemed to be able to break through the Armor Pokemon’s defenses. “Hrodulf, get some Payback!” Gaster commanded in response, directing his Pokemon after the Magmortar.
With a roar, Hrodulf struck the Blast Pokemon, landing a solid hit, but getting burned in the process. This softened him up enough for one of the mercs to do some serious damage with his rifle. Normally, the Tyranitar could push through such an injury, but he’d been slowly getting whittled down and had already been healed several times. Not wanting to risk it, Gaster decided to recall his Pokemon.
“Time for some more backup then,” Cyrus responded, sending out his Braviary. “Aguilo, use Crush Claw!” the captain commanded his newly sent out Pokemon. Closing the distance to the Altaria, the Valiant Pokemon struck with his talons, doing a real number on it.
With Hrodulf out of the way, though, there was a lot more gunfire flying at the Maverick crew. Gaster and his crewmates all ducked into cover, except for Ace, who advanced forward behind the safety of his Aegislash’s shield. “Time to test our new Incini-shot technique, Scorch!” the android called out. Moving up alongside his trainer, the Simisear spat out a three-pronged jet of flames at three of the mercs, burning through their armor and forcing them to drop their guns as they became too hot to hold.
The Magmortar’s trainer cursed the loudest as he reatread back. After extinguishing himself, he yelled into his radio in Romanov.
“Nice work, Ace,” Cyrus said as he popped out of cover again. Taking aim with his pistol, the captain fired on the one merc who was still armed.
Taraka stepped out too, firing on the Magmortar before commanding his Togekiss to attack, “Sirius, use Dazzling Gleam!” As the mercs scrambled to pick up their weapons, Sirius unleashed her attack on them, knocking the Altaria’s trainer out. The Alteria attempted to attack back with its beak to avenge its trainer, but Sirius gracefully dodged away.
“Pushka, Fire Punch!” the Magmortar’s trainer commanded his Pokemon to attack as well. The Blast Pokemon was more successful, burning Taraka’s Togekiss with a direct hit with its flaming fist. The merc, meanwhile, retreated further back. “Where’s that backup?!” he screamed into his radio.
As the fight raged on, Cyrus’s Braviary continued to tangle with the Altaria while Ace kept advancing on the retreating Mercs with his Simisear. In response to the pressure, the merc who had sent out the Luxray earlier sent out a Froslass, which immediately began flinging ice at the Maverick crew and their Pokemon.
“Oof,” Cyrus grunted as one of the Foslass’s Ice Shard attacks struck him. Ducking into cover again, the captain returned fire, landing some potshots. Gaster joined in, lining up a shot and squeezing the trigger. Just as quickly as it appeared, the Froslass was down.
With that threat taken care of, Gaster sent out his Salazzle to help mop things up. “Sakuya, use Toxic!” he commanded.
As Gaster’s Pokemon poisoned the Magmortar with noxious gas, Ace sent his Simisear after the rest, “Scorch, another Incini-shot!” Another three-pronged flame attack spread out from the Ember Pokemon, taking out another merc and singeing the rest. Ace then charged in to attack the mercs again.
Meanwhile, Taraka commanded his Togekiss after the Altaria. “Sirius, use Fairy Wind!” The Altaria dropped from the hit, leaving only one hostile Pokemon to take care of.
As Cyrus’s Braviary and the Magmortar collided in a tangle of flames and feathers, Sikari’s voice sounded on the comms, “Heads up. You’ve got more guys headed your way.”
“What else is new?” Gaster grunted back a response.
“I’ll try to stall them with the blast doors,” Sikari added a moment later.
“Good,” Gaster said before turning his focus back to the fight. “Sakuya, use Flamethrower!” His Salazzle moved in to attack the mercs as Ace’s Simisear brought down the Magmortar with a Bite attack. With the Pokemon all out of the way, it didn’t take the Maverick crew long to take the remaining mercs out.
“Alright, let’s regroup before those guys show up,” Cyrus said once it had fallen silent.
“Here, Taraka,” Gaster said, tossing the monk a burn heal for his Togekiss.
“Thanks,” Taraka nodded back before applying it to his Pokemon.
As he did so, Sikari reported in again, “Looks like they figured out that I’m in the system; they’ve locked me out. You’ve only got a few moments before those guys show up. Directly ahead of where you entered.”
“Thanks for the info,” Cyrus acknowledged. Then, turning to the others, he said, “Form up on the doors.”
The crew took up position to attack whatever came through the doors, just in time for them to open. A large, muscular man with short blond hair wearing a bulky suit of armor stepped through, flanked by four more mercs with rifles.
“You should not be here,” the man said, speaking with a deep, booming voice and a strong Romanov accent.
“And yet we are,” Gaster said.
“These are the ones my sister warned us about,” the large man addressed his men. “Take care of them.”
“Yes, Sergei, sir!” the mercs responded before sending out Pokemon.
The Maverick crew found themselves facing a Staraptor, a Houndoom, an Ursaring, and a Sawk. The one called Sergei then sent out a unique looking Pinsir with large spines on its pincers, a set of orange and yellow wings with large spikes emerging from the elytra, and a pair of fierce yellow eyes, releasing it behind the others.
“Tserber, Smog!” the Houndoom’s trainer called out as the mercs fanned out into the corridor. The fiery canine sprayed out some poisonous gas at Taraka’s Togekiss as the gunfire began to fly from both sides.
Moving up to cover his crewmates, Ace blocked a lot of the incoming fire. “Scorch, Incini-shot!” the android then commanded his Pokemon. Spitting out three more jets of flame, the Simisear sent them flying at the Pinsir, the Sawk, and the Ursaring.
Taraka, meanwhile, put up a new psionic barrier as Cyrus and Gaster landed some shots on the enemy Pokemon. “Sakuya, use Smog!” Gaster then commanded his Salazzle. Skittering up to the Ursaring, the Toxic Lizard Pokemon sprayed it with superheated poisonous gas, leaving it burned and poisoned.
Once his barrier was up, Taraka commanded his Togekiss to attack as well, “Sirius, use Air Slash then fall back.” The monk’s Pokemon shot a powerful blast of air at the weakened Sawk, taking it out, then flew back to a safe distance.
“Khitin, Submission!” Sergei then called out. The merc’s Pinsir flew at Scorch with surprising speed and attempted to clamp its pincers around him, but the Simisear managed to dodge out of the way just in time. However, he couldn’t dodge the enemies all at once.
“Krug, Stone Edge!”
A powerful super-effective attack from the Ursaring was all it took to bring him down. Scorch was quickly avenged by Ace, who slashed through the Pinsir and the offending Ursaring with his Aegislash, taking the latter out.
“Aguilo, get ready for a Sky Attack!” Cyrus then commanded his Braviary. As the captain’s Pokemon flew up to set up for his attack, the Staraptor flew right for Sakuya, landing a hard hit with its talons.
“Sakuya, get out of there, then use Sludge Wave!” Gaster responded. The Staraptor managed to land another hit before the Salazzle could get away, but once at a safe distance, she fired off a torrent of poisonous sludge at her assailant as well as the Houndoom, doing some good damage to both.
“Tserber, Dark Pulse!” the Houndoom’s trainer responded. The merc’s Pokemon fired a pulse of dark energy back at Sakuya, but the Salazzle dodged out of the way.
Suddenly, Sergei charged into the room, gunning straight for Ace. The android managed to land a strike with his Aegislash before the large Romanov merc managed to lock him in a grapple hold.
Unable to line up a good shot on the mercenary leader as the two struggled and traded blows, Gaster turned his aim upon the Staraptor, landing a direct hit. “Khishchnik, Endeavor!” the Staraptor’s trainer commanded his now quite injured Pokemon, sending it after Sakuya. Luckily, the Salazzle managed to evade the powerful attack and retreat to safety.
The mercs then laid down another salvo of fire, forcing Gaster to dive to the floor to avoid getting hit. A few shots grazed Sakuya and Taraka as well, but both were still alright. Taraka’s Togekiss was less fortunate, taking a few direct shots, but the monk’s barrier absorbed the brunt of the assault.
As Gaster scrambled back to his feet, he saw the Pinsir fly into the thick of the fray, slamming Ace and his Aegislash, which was now floating free in the air, as well as Cyrus with a powerful Trash attack. “You alright, Captain?!” Gaster called out as Cyrus stumbled back towards him.
“I’ll live,” the captain grunted in response, clutching his fresh wound.
Just then, Cyrus’s Braviary dove down at the mercs from above, striking two with his talons, nearly taking both down. Scattering away from the Valiant Pokemon, the mercs took up new positions and one called out, “Tserber, Smog!” The Houndoom skirted around the edge of the skirmish to find its mark, then shot out a jet of poison gas at Gaster and the captain, leaving the pair coughing but otherwise mostly unharmed. Running out of the gas cloud, Cyrus fired back at the Houndoom, taking it down.
Finding himself a better place to stand, Gaster watched Taraka shoot a pair of psionic flames at Sergei and his Pinsir, burning both. “Sirius, use Swift!” the monk then commanded his Togekiss. The Jubilee Pokemon proceeded to fire down a storm of energy stars at the Pinsir and the Staraptor, knocking out the latter.
“Khitin, X-Scissor!” Sergei then ordered his Pinsir. The Stag Beetle Pokemon lunged at Ace again, smashing through the remnants of Taraka’s barrier. Sergei then followed up with a powerful strike, knocking Ace to his knees. The android wasn’t going down without a fight, though. Powering through, he summoned his Aegislash back to his hand and struck at Sergei, forcing him back.
That gave Cyrus the opening he needed to line up a shot with his pistol and bring the big man down. Not missing a beat, the captain commanded his Braviary to keep attacking the remaining mercs as he retreated back to a safe distance, “Aguilo, use Crush Claw!” The Braviary used his powerful talons to tear into one of the mercs he had already injured, killing him quickly.
The remaining mercs attempted to fire back, but the Braviary was causing too much interference. Seeing an opportunity, Gaster lined up his shots and fired three bursts, killing the other one Aguilo had injured, dropping a second, and nearly taking out the third. “Sakuya, Flamethrower!” the former smuggler then commanded his Salazzle. With a jet of flame, Sakuya brought the Pinsir down as well.
The last man standing was soon downed too, dropped by a shot from Taraka’s new gun. With the threat eliminated, they could all breathe a sigh of relief. Their ordeal wasn’t quite over, though.
“C’mon, keep moving,” Cyrus said as he led the charge through the door Sergei and his men emerged from. Gaster followed along with the others as they continued to push toward the center of the station.
Notes: And here we have another combat heavy mission. This chapter covers the rest of session 64 as well as most of session 65. As with the previous mission back on Insipia, I wasn’t able to do all my prep during the week, so I made up the mission as I went along while building a boss encounter that we didn’t end up getting to until the following session. I basically finished it during the RP in the previous chapter, but we ended up running a bit long so we did the fight in the next session instead. Even after softening everyone up with some henchmen fights, the fight with Sergei was a lot easier for them than expected. Overall, not too much to say about this one. It was just an exciting mission with some funnier moments too. The plan unknown came up with to get aboard the station was amusing and it was surprisingly similar to a strategy we used to get onto a station in the Eleventh Hour campaign not too long before this. And he wasn’t even in that game!
That does it for this chapter. As always the Spacemon gang and I will be monitoring the comments to foster discussion and answer any questions. Feel free to give feedback and critiques of the writing so I can improve it for the future, or just leave a comment with what you think about what went down in this chapter or what you think might happen next! You can also revisit past chapters, check out the rest of the Spacemon saga, join the Spacemon Discord server, or like our Facebook page to stay updated on all things Spacemon! Click here for the next exciting installment of Spacemon: Frontier!
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